Letting agent not fixing toilet quickly - anything we can do?

lil_miss_insanity

Hi, we've had issues with our drains meaning our toilet has been unusable since Thursday. We informed letting agent on that day, who said he'd call us back Friday. He said he would arrange for a plumber to come and fix it - but we have been chasing since then with constant promises of a call back. He has now left again with no way of re-contacting him until tomorrow, and no idea if/when this will ever be fixed.

As it is unsanitary and we have already waited 5 days, would it be within our rights to get an emergency plumber ourselves and deduct charges from our rent? Or do we have to wait indefinitely for the LA to get his act together? We have no way of contacting the LL directly, except by post (and the address for serving notices is down as the LA address.)

How should we go about this, without leaving us liable for a bill or liable for rent arrears?

Thanks for your help

moromir

Is it your drains in general or just the toilet that is blocked?

You could reasonably be expected to plunge etc yourself first, and be very sure you didn't put anything like wipes down there.

If its the drains, have you checked your sewerage company's website to see if the drains are now their responsibility? As of last October, sewerage companys have a lot more responsibility towards the maintenance of mains drains. It's probably "tenant like" to call them and advise them, they probably won't speak to the landlord as he won't have an account with them, you do.

lil_miss_insanity

We had Thames Water come out ourselves and check the drain outside boundary but they said it wasn't that one. The plunging has been done - last time it happened a year ago, we were told that it was tree roots causing a problem, as water was draining away to nothing overnight (except solid waste), but flushes were not flushing away. The same issue is recurring so I doubt it's something we've done.

BitterAndTwisted

It's likely that the agent's hands are tied until the landlord approves the expenditure. Agents rarely, if ever, hold funds available for repairs like this, so they could be waiting for the landlord to confirm that they will pick up the tab for this. That's compounded by the bank holiday, so if the landlord did accept to pay for it over the weekend, the agent hasn't had much time to arrange it.

Meanwhile, put your request to the landlord care of the agent, plus a copy addressed to the agent IN WRITING. By post not via text-message, email, Facebook or anything else.

maninthestreet

"Letting agent not fixing toilet quickly - anything we can do?"

Buy a cork??

monty-doggy

I'd say this is now urgent and get it done as cheaply as possible myself, but don't deduct it from rent, ask them to reimburse you. I waited four weeks for my oven to be fixed in January, and it didn't get done so I got it done and sent my LA the bill and got a cheque from the LL two weeks later. It cost £55 and they didn't ask any questions.

dacouch

If the toilet is not draining away properly there's an easy and free way that often clears it.

Fill a bucket up with water, flush the toilet and at the same time pour the water (Quickly) down the toilet.

The extra weight of the bucket of water normally clears most blockages.

If it works, try doing it a regularish intervals as it clears the toilet before any problems and keeps it clear